Ruth Abelmann graduated in 2002 from the Integrative Yoga Therapy program at the Prana Studio for Yoga and Health with Hannelore Moebius in Durham, NH and recently the YogaLife Institute's 500 hour Classical Yoga teacher training program. Ruth feels lucky to have found yoga in her 30's and loves introducing and sharing the gift of yoga on the mat and off the mat with others. She has taught in many different settings finding that her passion for the physical, philosophical spiritual and psychological aspects of yoga blend well with her professional work in Student Affairs at UNH. Ruth is energized by the forever evolving journey of living and teaching yoga, exploring and integrating yoga with life, students, family, community and friends.

Karen Batchelder is a graduate of the YogaLife Institute's 200-hour and 500-hour Classical Yoga Teacher Training programs and the Level 1 Comprehensive Yoga Therapy Training. She is also certified in the Usui System Reiki tradition. Karen began her yoga journey in 1998 as a method to alleviate anxiety. She discovered that yoga provided not only stress relief, but a series of tools and life lessons that help with anxiety and so much more.

"I aspire to help others seeking relief from stress and anxiety by integrating these wonderful tools and personal discoveries into my gentle yoga classes where relaxation is a focal point. My intention is to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all levels of ability, ages, and body types."

"Yoga therapy is a personalized approach to health and wellness that helps clients understand and transform their stress and anxiety. Yoga Therapy sessions utilize yoga philosophy and its practices, including conversation, gentle yoga postures, breath and relaxation to help restore health and peace of mind."

Karen is the graphic designer, website administrator, and marketing coordinator for the YogaLife Institute.

Nancy Beach has been teaching Classical yoga for over 5 years and has completed the 500 hour training level with YogaLife Institute of NH. When not teaching yoga, Nancy and her husband spend a lot of time playing with their two golden retrievers and running a video production company in Portsmouth, NH. The Bhagavad Gita says, "On this path (yoga) no effort is wasted, no gain is ever reversed; even a little of this practice will shelter you from great sorrow." Nancy brings this philosophy of her yoga practice to every class. Teaching the Classical Yoga (Hatha) style, Nancy starts the class with a short discussion allowing each student to create a personal intention that is carried through the rest of the class through every pose (asana). Each class ends with a short meditation. Every student is honored whether a beginner or an experienced yogi.

Alice Bentley has been practicing yoga for 15 years, seriously since her pregnancy with her first child in 2004. On her move to the US from England in 2010 she joined the YogaLife Institute teacher training 200 hour program, with the idea that she wanted "to get better at yoga", what she experienced was life changing and has helped her manage a big transition into a new country and cope with her stressors more effectively. "Yoga helps me be a better mother, wife, daughter and friend, it is my stabilizing force and makes me a nicer person!" Since then she has completed her 200 hour training, 300 hour comprehensive yoga therapy training and 500 hour teacher training and enjoys sharing yoga's transformative power with others. She is passionate about how yoga can help women during pregnancy and motherhood and how yoga can promote healthy weight loss.

Sue Bielski came to yoga in her 30s seeking low-impact physical exercise, but she soon found herself drawn to exploring the deeper aspects of the practice. Today Sue is a graduate of the YogaLife Institute 200-hour Teacher Training program, eager to share the gift of yoga with the curious. The experience of yoga, as Sue imagines it, includes developing new perspectives, experimenting with the unfamiliar, opening up beneficial paths of communication, and cultivating light-heartedness as one moves through life.

With our open drop-in policy, you have the opportunity to explore Yoga with the guidance of any of our instructors. Certified and registered through Yoga Alliance, all of our instructors are dedicated to living a Yoga lifestyle. Students of all ages and abilities are welcome.

The YogaLife Institute offers a wide variety of experiential and educational workshops and class series. All workshops and series are open to the public unless specifically stated in the description. Take your practice deeper and register today.

Our teachers serve to provide a "reminder" of what we already know in our hearts and souls to be true. The following writings reflect these reminders that we need practice and more practice, and a community that supports us in our path towards enlightenment.

The advanced training programs through the YogaLife Institute emphasizes the "living of Yoga" and thereby brings personal transformation to those who are ready and willing. We believe that those individuals who live their Yoga make the best Yoga instructors.